By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-24 05:37:45 | Updated at 2024-10-24 08:22:33
2 hours ago
A Utah mother-of-three who stands accused of murdering her husband and then writing a children's book about grief has shared ridiculous new qualifications as she petitions a judge to be let out on bail ahead of her trial.
Kouri Richins, 34, has been in state custody since May 2023, when she was charged with the murder of her husband, Eric Richins.
She has been a model inmate ever since, her attorneys argue in an appeal for her to be released on bail Tuesday, pointing to several certificates she has received for the completion of jail-run programs, ABC 4 reports.
Among those programs are 'Raising Relational Kids in a Screen-Driven World,' a six-month course on American history and the Constitution, and art and botany programs.
Richins has also been accepted into California Coat University's Online Masters of Business Administration program and enrolled in paralegal studies, her attorneys argued in court documents, according to Townlift.
Kouri Richins, 34, is pleading with a judge to be released on bail ahead of her May 2025 trial
They also argued that Richins has been held behind bars for far too long.
She was arrested on May 8, 2023 after she called 911 to report that she found Eric 'cold to the touch' at the foot of their bed.
Medical examiners later discovered that he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system, and Summit County Chief Prosecutor, Patricia Cassell, has alleged that Kouri slipped the obscene amount of drugs into Eric's Moscow Mule cocktail that night, even though the wife's family said his death was accidental.
Prosecutors have argued that the couple fought over financial issues in regard to their 10-acre $2million home.
They said Eric found out that his wife had taken out a $250,000 home equity line of credit and spent it, withdrawn $100,000 from his bank accounts, and spent more than $30,000 on his credit cards.
Kouri also stole about $134,000 from her husband's business meant for tax payments, the documents stated.
Prosecutors also allege that Kouri purchased four different life insurance policies, which totaled more than $1.9million between 2015 and 2017.
Yet, the couple still signed an agreement that would grant her the sale of the home prior to Eric's death.
Then, just one day after his death, affidavits for search warrants showed that Kouri signed the closing papers on the couple's $2million property and invited friends for a party where she was drinking and celebrating.
Richins is accused of drugging her husband, Eric (right), with a lethal amount of fentanyl in his Moscow Mule cocktail
Court documents further claimed that Kouri first attempted to kill her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl just a month before she allegedly served him the spiked cocktail.
Prosecutors have alleged that a sandwich that she got for him on Valentine's Day was left with a note in the front seat of his truck.
Following his death, Kouri also benefitted financially after she wrote a children's book about grief.
She said in an interview that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding 'nothing' to help her sons 'cope' and dedicated the book to Eric.
Kouri promoted it on television and radio, describing the book as a way to help children grieve the loss of a loved one.
She later penned a children's book about grief, claiming she was trying to help her sons 'cope' with the loss of their father
After her first bail hearing in June 2023, Judge Richard Mrazik ruled that Richins would not be released on bail, claiming she was a flight risk and a danger to the community due to the potential severity of the charges against her and the possibility of the death penalty.
At the time, Richins' attorneys argue, it appeared as though she would face a trial on murder charges and financial crimes within a matter of months.
But following several delays, including a change of defense attorneys, the criminal trial has been pushed back to May 2025.
The state has also since declared that it would not be seeking the death penalty in the case.
'At the time of the original detention hearing in June of 2023, it was believed that preliminary hearing and trial were imminent,' the defense attorneys wrote in their appeal.
'Based on the newly-scheduled trial date, if Mrs. Richins is not released, she will have served two years in jail at the time of her trial, all while presumed to be innocent.'
They noted that since being detained, Richins 'has appeared repeatedly before this Court without restraints and has acted at all times respectfully and courteously,' according to Fox 13.
'The Court can now take that pattern of positive behavior into consideration in determining whether conditions can be set that insure the safety of the community.'
The lawyers concluded by saying that if she were released on bail, Richins would live with her brother and sister-in-law in Salt Lake County, which they argued would remove any risk of inadvertent interactions with possible witnesses in the case and allow her to have supervised visits with her three sons, from whom she has become estranged.
She has only had one phone call with her children that lasted two seconds - and that required a court order, her attorneys claimed in court documents, per KPCW.
'She will be able to continue to work on her higher education degree and will be highly motivated to comply with all conditions set by the Court so that she can conduct supervised visitation with her sons,' the appeal read.
'Mrs. Richins' family is prepared to provide essentials such as food, clothing and educational resources, and they are committed to making sure that she appears at all court proceedings as required.'
Judge Mrazik will now consider whether to grant Richins bail and hear any arguments opposed to the motion on Monday.
A second hearing to consider any additional motions has also been set for November 12.
